Masdar inks cooperation deal with Abu Dhabi transport

ABU DHABI, January 20, 2018

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) said it has signed an agreement with the Department of Transport – Abu Dhabi (DoT) to boost co-operation in the study, testing and evaluation of sustainable, electrical and autonomous transport technologies.

The multifaceted partnership aims to establish pilot projects promoting local capacity building, said Masdar in a statement.

The agreement also covers the development of infrastructure for the testing and validation of smart electrical and autonomous vehicle technologies by both government and the private sector, it stated.

"The Department of Transport is continuously working to motivate the public to move towards the use of environmentally friendly vehicles in order to further boost the quality of life in Abu Dhabi," said Al Mazrouei Khalifa Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the under-secretary of the DoT, after signing the deal with Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, the chief executive of Masdar, during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2018.

"Masdar is committed to the commercial development of sustainable transport infrastructure and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is at the heart of the emerging trend in sustainability mobility," noted Al Ramahi.

He stressed upon the DoT's commitment to support sustainable transport by establishing standards encouraging the use of low emission vehicles.

"This partnership will help to identify innovative technologies that may be potentially developed at scale, complementing the larger sustainable transport strategy of Abu Dhabi," he added.

Abu Dhabi’s flagship sustainable community, Masdar City, has been a pioneer of sustainable mobility, introducing the world’s first permanent driverless Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in 2010. The PRT had carried more than two million passengers by the end of 2016.

At this year’s Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, Masdar announced that the PRT system will be extended with autonomous electrics vehicle provided by the French manufacturer, Navya.-TradeArabia News Service